We Need to Protect Our Care!

North Carolina House Republicans have just Voted Against Protections for People with Pre-Existing Conditions. When will Senators Tillis and Burr Stand Up to Protect Affordable Health Care?

On Wednesday, the House voted on a resolution to intervene in Texas v. United States, the Republican lawsuit designed to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. In December, a George W. Bush appointed Federal Judge in Texas issued a ruling which would strike down the Affordable Care Act, putting the health care of the 3.9 million North Carolinians with pre-existing conditions in jeopardy.

The Allred Resolution establishes the House as a party in the lawsuit, with the authority to defend the law in court. The Allred Resolution sends a clear message that, despite ongoing partisan attacks on health care, the House will work to defend the ACA, and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Poll after poll in 2018 showed that healthcare was the top issue on voters’ minds in November. It was far and away the #1 issue that came up when talking to voters in my Senate District. I was one of the six seats we picked up in the State Senate and this was a major issue for all of our campaigns in these six seats we were able to flip. The American people spoke loud and clear. In North Carolina, Democrats broke the super-majority in the state legislature after running on expanding Medicaid under the ACA. Nationwide, Americans put their faith in a Democratic House majority to protect the ACA from the Republican war on health care. Americans want to keep protections for pre-existing conditions, limits on out-of-pocket costs, small business tax credits, a ban on annual and lifetime limits, and the ability to keep their children insured until age 26. This ruling is simply dangerous and would eliminate these key provisions that North Carolinians support and rely on. We can’t go back to letting insurance companies write the rules.

The Trump administration itself admitted in court that if the Affordable Care Act was overturned, it would unleash “chaos” on our health care system. In North Carolina, 3.9 million individuals with pre-existing conditions would be put at risk of losing their coverage or be forced to accept outrageous premium increases. North Carolina has a great opportunity right now to expand Medicaid, saving lives and protecting rural hospitals and jobs. That would all be lost if this reckless ruling is allowed to stand.

I applaud House Democrats, specifically Congressman David Price, Alma Adams for Congress, and Congressman G. K. Butterfield, for using their authority to intervene in the lawsuit and defend the Affordable Care Act, and I’m disappointed that North Carolina Republicans have chosen to continue their war on health care and put the most vulnerable among us at risk. We need to Protect Our Care!

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